1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for storing and supplying sheet-like materials in which while a plurality of uniform sheet materials e.g. flattened tubular blanks, are stored in a pile in a magazine, they are delivered one by one to an apparatus in the following step of procedure such as a buid-up device for forming such blanks into a cross-sectionally square configuration, and more particularly, to an apparatus in which the replacement of sheet-like materials in a magazine, the re-supply of sheet-like materials to the magazine during operation, and the removal of sheet-like materials from the magazine after operation can be made.
2. Prior Art
There have been produced various known paper-made containers for respective use, such as disposable packaging containers for beverage, e.g. milk. Such a packaging container is preliminarily formed into a tubular packaging container blank having folding line thereon and sealed lengthwisely thereof which can thus be turned readily to a finished form of packaging container without use of any extra procedure such as cutting, and more specifically on an automatic packaging machine, is closed in the bottom while its top end remains open and then, at a filling section of the automatic packaging machine, filled with liquid food, e.g. milk, before sealed out. The tubular packaging container blank is supplied in a flattened sheet form for ease of storage, transportation, and other handling. The tubular packaging container blank of sheet form is needed to shift from the flattened tubular sheet form to the cross-sectionally square finished form so as to become a container with the bottom closed and the top end kept open for filling with liquid food on the automatic packaging machine. In a prior art, such as depicted in Japanese patent provisional publication No. SH057-163615 (1982), while a plurality of such blanks are loaded into a magazine installed in a build-up device, they are shaped one by one by the build-up device. Also as disclosed in Japanese patent Provisional publication No. SH059-209512 (1984), such flattened tubular blanks while loaded into a magazine is delivered one by one by a conveyor and shaped by a build-up device.
With respect to a magazine in such a known machine, the loading and replacement of sheet-like packaging container blanks into the magazine requires labor work. Particularly, as there is needed the re-supply of blanks during continuous operation or the shift of blank to another form due to a change in procedure of operation, manual handling should be carried out and thus, production efficiency is much affected.